1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and an image recording method which correct image non-uniformities caused by nozzles having an ejection abnormality.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus is known which forms an image on a recording medium by ejecting ink (droplets) from a plurality of ink ejection nozzles (hereinafter, simply called nozzles) of an inkjet head. The plurality of nozzles in an inkjet head may include ejection abnormality nozzles in which an ejection abnormality has occurred, for example, deflecting nozzles in which deflection of the flight of ink has occurred.
As shown in FIG. 20A, if ink has been ejected from a deflecting nozzle N(E), then deviation (error) in the landing position of the ink on the recording medium occurs. As a result of this, as shown in FIG. 20B, when the recording image is observed, a single stripe non-uniformity (a white stripe WL or a black stripe WK) occurs as a result of the deflecting nozzle N(E). Therefore, technology for preventing non-uniformities in a recorded image caused by a deflecting nozzle N(E) have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-201121 discloses an inkjet recording apparatus which performs correction of a single-stripe non-uniformity (simply called a “stripe non-uniformity” below) by disabling ejection of abnormal nozzles of various kinds, including deflecting nozzles N(E), and also increasing an ink output density of adjacent nozzles which are adjacent to an abnormal nozzle. The inkjet recording apparatus according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-201121 performs correction of a stripe non-uniformity by using a correction coefficient (correction parameter) for stripe non-uniformity correction corresponding to differences in a landing interference pattern.